This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.
This week
- We are all revolting children.
- The movie war is getting ugly.
- More reason to love Jennifer Coolidge.
- Life is 30 Rock: Part 459.
- Big Gay Day.
The Discourse Is Broken
It’s wonderful to love a movie. It’s OK to think it’s bad.
The people who like a film have found something worthy to latch onto. How nice! The people who didn’t aren’t tasteless buffoons, which you might be confused about if you’ve seen any tweets about the movies Babylon or Glass Onion in the last week.
People—brace yourselves—like different things! That includes critics. That includes cinephiles. That includes the people who see movies about once a year. It’s all fine. In fact, it’s supposed to be the fun of all this.
There is value in attempting to dissect the reasons for any sort of polarized reaction, especially when it’s as split as Babylon or Glass Onion. The former film stars Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, and is a bonkers romp commenting on Old Hollywood. The latter is the sequel to Knives Out, with Daniel Craig returning to solve a murder mystery involving Kate Hudson and Janelle Monáe.
Depending on the exact moment you scroll through Twitter, you’ll either see that Babylon is an audacious masterpiece that only the high-minded among us can appreciate, or you’ll see someone warning all Americans to turn off the film after 15 minutes and save themselves. When it comes to Glass Onion, you might see someone heralding the meticulousness of Rian Johnson’s script and filmmaking, or you will see someone spitting on all the plebian idiots who ever said the movie was good in the first place.
The discourse is broken. I’m not sure why it’s these two movies in particular that shattered it, but it’s been exhausting to witness. Tiptoeing through it, it’s impossible not to get cut by the shard remnants. I think it’s ruining the way we talk about film, pop culture, and fun.
It’s bizarre that people are discounting or invalidating the critics who don’t share their opinion about a film. There is value to criticism. Reviews are an individual perspective, formed from years of experience and an understanding of how art influences industry and culture. It’s also very personal. A review is not binding law. It is guidance for thinking about a piece of art as you watch and process it, so that your own understanding of it might deepen—whether or not you agree.
If you read Twitter’s reaction to reviews of Glass Onion or Babylon, you’d think a review the poster disagreed with was the world’s most heinous hate speech.
It makes sense that there are differing opinions on these films. Damien Chazelle’s three-hour-and-nine-minute bacchanal that opens with a close-up of an elephant defecating isn’t going to be for everyone, but will be passionately appreciated by some. The experience matters, too. Would you believe that people who saw Glass Onion at packed advanced screenings or in theaters had a glaringly different view of the film to those who watched while scrolling through their phones half paying attention with no audience reaction besides their family members in the kitchen talking loudly about Christmas dinner plans?
How you feel about either of these films shouldn’t be your defining trait, no matter what trends on Twitter might say. (How you feel about Sister Act should be.)
In any case, both of these movies are predicted to be Best Picture nominees, which to me says more about the fractured industry than anything.
Jennifer Coolidge Does Stand-Up!
After just ranting about people on Twitter, I feel foolish celebrating it. But were it not for Twitter, I never would have found out that Jennifer Coolidge, before some high-end gays tried to kill her on The White Lotus, did a stand-up set at Comix in New York in 2010.
Coolidge is not a stand-up comedian, though she may be among the funniest people alive. So discovering this was like unearthing buried treasure at the bottom of the ocean.
In the clip that’s been circulating, Coolidge talks about the very first job she had in Hollywood. According to her act, she had a bit part in Sophie’s Choice, as the German girl working in a strudel shop. Did you forget about that scene in the Oscar-winning, all-time tear-jerker? No worries, Coolidge recreates it for you, strudel and all.
Just when we think we’ve seen all the layers to Coolidge’s brilliance, a clip like this surfaces to remind us that her talent knows no bounds. (Watch it here.)
R.I.P. Andrew Tate
This week, Andrew Tate trolled Greta Thunberg by showing off how many carbon emissions his travel gives off each week, to which she replied with a tweet about his “small dick energy.” He then responded to her in a video, in which a pizza box was visible. The restaurant on that pizza box apparently alerted Romanian authorities that he was in the country, and they arrested him on human trafficking allegations.
Once I Googled “who the fuck is Andrew Tate?” I really appreciated this news story. (He’s a former kickboxer, reality star, and internet idiot—someone for the straights to know and me to blissfully ignore, until now.)
Not only was the way he entrapped himself the epitome of narcissistic foolishness: trying to make a snarky point in the face of a “woke” teenager. The way he was caught was also exactly a plot on 30 Rock. It’s how Liz found Tracy when he went into hiding: a pizza box in a video.
This is 2022. All life is 30 Rock.
The Gay High Holy Holiday
This week, we commemorate the time 20 years ago when an entire generation realized they were gay. Happy 20th anniversary to Chicago and The Hours.
What to watch this week:
Kaleidoscope: The new Netflix show lets you choose what order to watch episodes in. It’s fun! (Sun. on Netflix)
Watch What Happens Live: Our long national nightmare (WWHL’s holiday break) is finally over. (Tues. on Bravo)
Lizzo: Live in Concert: A good-as-hell way to end the year. (Sat. on HBO Max)
What to skip this week:
CNN’s New Year’s Eve: Some buzzkill head honcho is not letting them get drunk! An affront to us all! (Sat. on CNN)
